Must Have Done Something Good
by Luna Darkside
Summary: Kaito, a starving university student, answers a mysterious advertisement for a well-paying job. He's not expecting to become the caretaker of four unruly kids with a very attractive father. He's also not expecting to fall for said attractive father. /eventual KaiShin & ShinKai/
1. Chapter 1

_Inspired by _The Sound of Music_, but modern day… in Japan… with DCMK characters… and an entirely different plot. Yeah. But since it originally started out as a Sound of Music AU, I decided I'd use a lyric from _Something Good _as the title._

_This started out as a quick, fun AU, and then I realized Valentine's Day was coming up and decided to quickly force this to be somewhat Valentine's Day themed. But then it was super long, so I'll be posting it over the course of three days. It's three parts in total, by the way._

_Warnings include shounen-ai, grammar mistakes / general errors, my sudden inability to write well (actually, that's not sudden), terrible pacing, accidental-siren!Shinichi, starving-college-student!Kaito, precocious-as-hell!Detective Boys, etc. **ALSO**, vague references to domestic abuse and violence, so if that triggers you, please be aware._

_Also, I have no idea how the Japanese adoption system works and I'm too lazy to research it, so we're going to just… casually pretend I do, shall we?_

_Enjoy! - Luna_

**Must Have Done Something Good**

When Kaito had first seen the ad, a tiny rectangle occupying the bottom corner of Touto University's weekly newsletter, he had been confused. Mostly because the ad had read _Wanted: Person who has been through hell and back. And is still alive. Or someone who is willing to go through hell and back. 15,000 yen per hour. Please call and arrange here _with a phone number trailing off the end.

Kaito had scanned his tiny apartment, with the broken air conditioning and slightly moldy tatami mats and never-ending cold drafts, and then peered at his reflection in the fogged mirror – he had looked about as healthy as an autopsied corpse, a testament to the fact that he barely had enough money to cover both tuition and food – and had decided yes, he met the requirements. For – whatever the insanely well-paying job was.

He had called the number, resulting in a short conversation with a young, harried-sounding male voice. Together, they had decided that Kaito was to come to Beika, district two, block twenty-two on Saturday, at 8:00 a.m.

It was all rather ominous and disturbing, and had Kaito not been desperately in need of some kind of job, being a starving university student and all, he probably wouldn't have actually shown up to the house in question. This whole thing sounded undoubtedly like some kind of ploy that would end in Kaito being sold off into slavery or disemboweled or something.

So when Kaito actually _got _to Beika, district two, block twenty-two on Saturday, at exactly 8:00 a.m. with pepper spray tucked into his back pocket and the police on speed-dial, he needed to take a moment to gape, double-check the address, and then gape some more.

Because rather than the dusty, abandoned warehouse with broken windows and peeling paint Kaito had been expecting, a luxurious, Western-style mansion stood in front of him. Rows of windows refracted the morning sunlight like square diamonds, and the wrought-iron gate before him was yawning partway open in the breeze. The front lawn was jade green, dewdrops sparkling along the blades of grass, and the leaves of the huge oak siting serenely on the left waved merrily as wind frolicked through the branches. The whole thing was straight out of a real estate magazine.

Cautiously, Kaito made his way through the open gate and down the pebbled path, stopping once he reached the magnificent mahogany door. He lifted one hand to knock, hesitated – this was his last chance to escape – and then rapped his knuckles against the wood.

Immediately, the door swung open, revealing a plushly carpeted floor and a long, winding hallway. Nonplussed, Kaito blinked (there was nobody there…?) until his gaze flickered downwards.

A small, dark-haired girl around six or seven years old, clad in a blindingly pink pinafore dress and a matching headband, squinted up at him with unconcealed distrust. "Who are you?" she demanded, scowling.

Before Kaito could recover himself, another girl, probably around the same age, emerged from an unseen door. She was blonde, her wavy hair cut in a neat bob, and she carried herself with a notably precocious air. "Yoshida-san, you shouldn't open the door to strangers," she chided, and the dark-haired girl turned to blink at her.

"But, Haibara-san, don't you think Shinichi-oniisan would rescue me? If I got kidnapped by a bad man or something?"

The blonde (Haibara?) rolled her eyes irritably, though there was no acidity to her words as she reminded Yoshida, "Don't you think you should try not to cause trouble for Kudou-kun?"

"Hm." Yoshida stuck out her bottom lip, pouting, and Kaito blinked, entirely confused about what exactly was unfolding before him.

As he was wondering what the best course of action was to do – was he in danger, facing two six-year-old girls? – there was the sound of something heavy falling overhead, and then footsteps, accompanied by a low grumbling, pounded down the staircase on the left side of the entry.

Glancing over at the stairwell, Kaito was just in time to see the most adorable man he'd ever laid eyes on thundering down the last flight of stairs, nearly growling. His hair was mussed, a mess of bedhead and cowlicks, and the oversized blue t-shirt he was wearing kept slipping over his shoulder to reveal pale, unmarked skin. He landed a little clumsily at the foot of the stairs, nearly losing a slipper in his haste, and stalked over to where Yoshida and Haibara were standing.

Ignoring the open door, Kaito, and Kaito's sudden racing heartbeat for the moment, the man cast a glare down at the two girls. "Ayumi, I've told you before. Don't open the door for strangers."

"That's what I said," Haibara muttered under her breath, earning a slight grin from the man before he returned to sending a disciplinary look at Yoshida.

Yoshida – Ayumi, Kaito supposed her name was – blinked large, innocent eyes up at him. "But wouldn't you save me if I was taken, Shinichi-oniisan?"

"Of course I would," replied the man with equal parts exasperation and fondness. He reached out to pat her on the head, giving a slight, affectionate smile when she beamed at him. "But all the same, let's keep the rescue missions to a minimum, okay?"

"Okay!" Ayumi chirped, and the curve to his lips turned to a full out grin.

Kaito had almost forgotten why he was there until the man straightened, running a hand through his hair as he looked apologetically at Kaito.

"Um, sorry about this," the man said sheepishly. Upon closer inspection, he was startlingly young, the light in his desperately azure eyes still lively with youth and the skin pulled over his sharp cheekbones and jawline was unblemished, smooth. He couldn't be much older than Kaito.

It took Kaito a moment to realize that he had been addressed, and he gave a polite cough. "Oh, it's… not a problem." He was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable, under the man's and both of the girls' combined gazes.

"I'm sure you're wondering what's going on here," the man went on, "considering how the ad was written. I'm Kudou Shinichi, and," at this point, he motioned at the girls, "these are my children."

"O… Oh." Kaito blinked, a little surprised. They were his _children_? Wouldn't that mean that Shinichi had had children while in his teens, considering he couldn't be older than twenty-five? And hadn't Ayumi called him _oniisan_? "Uh, I'm Kuroba Kaito."

Noting the mystification that was clearly apparent on his features, Shinichi sighed. "I'll explain later." He glanced up the stairs, narrowing his eyes at the ceiling. "I actually have two more boys, but it appears they aren't awake yet."

_Two _more_? _Kaito thought with some trepidation.

It was at that moment that Shinichi seemed to notice that Kaito was still standing outside and gave an awkward cough. "Oh, I'm sorry. Come in, come in." Pushing the heavy door open more, he made way for Kaito, gently nudging Haibara and Ayumi out of the way.

Kaito tentatively entered, toeing off his worn-out sneakers and trading them for a pair of slippers that Haibara wordlessly procured from somewhere. He felt like a bumbling peasant, which he supposed wasn't too far from reality, but the feeling still sunk to the pit of his stomach and settled in like a chunk of granite. He clung to the bag slung over his shoulder.

Meanwhile, Shinichi had shut the front door and was still glaring at the ceiling. Without warning, he called sharply, "Genta! Mitsuhiko! I know you're both awake! Get down here, please!"

Recoiling at Shinichi's sudden shout, Kaito almost missed the sound of frantic scrambling above them before two boys came careening down the stairs to land in a messy, groaning pile at the bottom of the stairs.

Shinichi stood over them, lifting an eyebrow. "Ten points for that landing."

"Thanks, Shinichi-san," one of the boys – the smaller one, Kaito decided – grinned, shoving the other boy off of him and clambering to his feet hurriedly. His eyes widened at the sight of Kaito standing behind Shinichi. Kaito instantly felt even more out of place.

The remaining boy, a large, stocky six-year-old, stood with much more groaning and complaining. "Mitsuhiko, that was _so _your fault," he groused, and the other boy heaved a sigh of resignation.

"Well, now that we're all gathered." Shinichi put his hands on his hips, and he would've looked a lot more intimidating if his shirt hadn't tilted alarmingly over his right shoulder and a cowlick hadn't been standing up on the back of his head. As it were, all the children were sharing barely hidden grins, which he pointedly ignored. "Everyone, this is Kuroba Kaito. He's going to be your, uh… care… giver."

Kaito blinked. "What?"

"Huh?" Shinichi glanced over at him. At the bemused expression on Kaito's face, he deflated. "I… forgot to actually tell you what the ad was for, didn't I?"

"Yes?" It sounded like a question, which it wasn't, but Kaito was too busy gawping at Shinichi in barely-concealed shock to consider changing his stunned tone of voice.

"Oh." Clearly uncomfortable, Shinichi reached up to rub at the back of his neck and straighten the neckline of his shirt. "Well, um, that ad was for a caregiver position for when I'm unable to take care of the children." He flinched, averting his gaze. "It… hasn't really worked out the past… couple times."

"More like the past eighteen times," someone muttered. It sounded a little like Haibara.

Clearing his throat pointedly, which accomplished nothing and instead left Haibara wearing a disturbingly sadistic smirk, Shinichi angled Kaito with a hopeful smile. "Regardless of… that, would you still be interested in the job?"

Under the full strength of those gorgeous azure eyes, as well as the assorted other eyes of the children, Kaito capitulated embarrassingly quickly. "Of course," he found himself agreeing, as Shinichi's eyes lit up like stars in the night sky. "I'd love to work here."

"Thank you, Kuroba-kun," Shinichi beamed, glowing brighter than candles on a birthday cake and lights on a Christmas tree combined, and Kaito nodded, powerless under the force of his smile.

Whirling around, Shinichi motioned at Ayumi. She was eyeing Kaito with the same expression of distrust she'd worn when she first opened the door, and Kaito felt a shiver go down his spine. He tried to smile at her. Why did she seem to dislike him so much, he wondered?

Oblivious, Shinichi was smiling at the both of them. "Kuroba-kun, that's Yoshida Ayumi. Ayumi, say hello to Kuroba-kun."

"Hello, Kuroba-oniisan," Ayumi greeted obediently, caginess evident in her tone, and Kaito attempted a smile in her direction.

"This is Haibara Ai," Shinichi went on, motioning to the blonde girl, and she inclined her head politely at Kaito. Kaito returned her nod with one of his own.

Shinichi put a hand on the larger boy's shoulder, leveling him with a _behave yourself _look. "This is Kojima Genta," he introduced, and Genta stuck out his chin, staring down Kaito with something akin to challenge in his eyes.

"_Behave_," Shinichi actually vocalized, a hint of irritation creeping into his tone, and Genta subsided, lowering his chin, though his expression didn't change.

"And last but not least," Shinichi said, smiling at the remaining boy, "is Tsuburaya Mitsuhiko."

The boy bowed formally, though the look on his face was impossible to decipher. "Hello, Kuroba-san," he mumbled to the ground, with an underlying note of steel, and Kaito awkwardly bowed in response.

"Well." Shinichi's smile was a little strained. He was clearly puzzled about his children's behavior, and Kaito could relate. "Now that we're all acquainted, I've really got to go."

"Go?" Kaito choked, stomach dropping, and Shinichi nodded in his direction as he started for the stairs.

"I've actually got an investigation going right now, so I really can't afford to be late," he said apologetically, clearly missing the _please don't leave me alone with your children _Kaito was fervently trying to telepathically communicate, before disappearing up the staircase.

Haibara was the first to break the painful silence that filled the front entry the moment Shinichi was out of earshot. "Let's eat breakfast," she suggested, and the other three children hurried towards a door down the hall. But not before they all gave him wary glares.

Kaito gaped after them for a long minute. At his side, Haibara smirked condescendingly. "Good luck, Kuroba-kun," she hummed, remarkably unhelpful, before trotting after her siblings.

Shinichi reappeared down the stairs, hair mildly less mussed and clad in a button-down and slacks, just as Kaito was forcing himself to start walking down the hall. He frowned apologetically in Kaito's direction as he padded to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, and Kaito found himself smiling hesitantly in return.

"I'm sorry about all this," Shinichi intoned lowly, casting a glance in the direction of the kitchen. "I should've explained on the phone, but Genta had been trying to climb out his bedroom window and Haibara had refused to help me stop him."

He didn't allow enough time for Kaito to fully process that statement before moving on, leaning towards him conspiratorially. Evidently, Shinichi had also put on cologne while he'd been upstairs, because Kaito was immediately acutely aware of how good he smelled, sort of like fresh pine needles and citrus. "If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a police detective."

Oh. That would explain the "I have an investigation" comment earlier. Kaito nodded in understanding, his bangs brushing against Shinichi's with the motion.

A flicker of sadness passed through Shinichi's eyes. He let out a soundless sigh. "You've probably also figured out that I'm not those children's biological father."

"I did sort of assume you weren't," was out of Kaito's mouth before he could stop himself.

Fortunately, Shinichi didn't seem to take offense. He just looked even unhappier. "They're good kids," he muttered, eyes skittering away from Kaito. "But bad things happened to them. To their parents. All of them are orphans or have – unfit parents. So I adopted them. I just… I just couldn't stand to see the foster care system cycling them through homes, not when they've gone through so much. They don't deserve that." He suddenly appeared much, much older than the twenty-or-so years he was. "But really, now, I doubt I'm a better parent than any of the foster parents. I'm always so busy with work and I don't have time for them. I'm really not cut out for parenting."

Something in Kaito's chest was tight. He didn't stop the impulse to reach out and touch Shinichi on the shoulder, watching as Shinichi's eyes jumped to meet his. "I think you've done a marvelous job," he tried, hoping the sincerity in his voice would come through. "They're all clothed, fed, happy. They all respect you. You've done well."

"You think?" A tiny, relieved smile curved Shinichi's lips, and he reached out to pat Kaito on the cheek. His palm was cool and dry. "You're an abominable flatterer, Kuroba-kun, but I guess that's all right."

Kaito stared at him and wondered why he had such a strong urge to lean in and –

"Shinichi-oniisan!"

Jerking backwards, Kaito glanced around wildly until he spotted a scowling Ayumi standing in the hallway. She was looking at him as if she personally wanted to use a branding iron on his eyeballs, and he flinched. But all she said was, "Shinichi-oniisan, you're going to be late."

Blinking, Shinichi pulled back one sleeve to check the platinum watch on his left wrist. His eyebrows shot up, and he hurried for the door. "You're right, Ayumi." He spared Kaito one last smile before he finished pulling on his shoes. "Sorry about this, Kuroba-kun. Haibara can help you with anything." With that, he disappeared out the door, leaving behind a blank-faced Kaito and an Ayumi who was still pouting fiercely.

"Come over here, Kuroba-oniisan," she grumbled, motioning towards the kitchen. Kaito gulped, mentally questioning how a six-year-old managed to be so intimidating, then did as she asked.

The kitchen was a warm, comfortable place. Goldenrod sunlight filtered through a large bay window, and the pale yellow walls only further enhanced the overall sunny atmosphere. The kitchen itself was fairly clean, though Kaito raised an eyebrow at the small army of bags of coffee beans huddled in one corner, and the separated dining area, home to a round wooden table and matching chairs, was also relatively neat.

Mitsuhiko, Genta, and Haibara were clustered around the table, pouring cereal and milk into bowls. Kaito stood in the doorway, observing, as Ayumi shot him a last squinty look before she took her place at the table.

"Do you guys always eat cereal for breakfast?" he asked once they had lapsed into a frenzy of crunching.

Mitsuhiko was the first to answer, setting down his spoon. "Yes, although occasionally Shinichi-san takes us out to breakfast. He can't cook at all. Last time he tried, we had to call the fire department."

Wincing, Kaito ran a hand across his mouth. Was it bad that he actually thought that was a little cute? "Well, next time I'm around, I'll try to make something. Do you guys like pancakes?"

"Yeah, pancakes are good," Genta agreed, though he wasn't smiling when he met Kaito's eyes. He was giving Kaito the same skeptical expression that Ayumi had given him before. Kaito groaned.

"Okay, would someone please tell me why all of you seem to hate me so much?" he demanded, searching each face.

Nobody moved.

Finally, Haibara gave a quiet chuckle, drawing all eyes to her. She leaned over her cereal bowl to angle an unreadable look at Kaito. "They're afraid you'll fall in love with Kudou-kun."

Of all the reasons he was expecting, from the fact that he was clearly a starving college student to the way his hair fell, that was not one of them. Kaito blinked, mouth falling open. "What?"

Haibara shrugged. A wayward strand of hair fell across her cheek, and she primly rearranged it. "It happens quite often, actually. All eighteen of our last caretakers – they all fell for Kudou-kun. And he had to fire all of them, because we told him we didn't like them and because they were all planning to find a way to take advantage of his kindness. Most likely to seduce him or just to have their way with him."

"Wait, _have their way with _him? What?" Kaito sputtered. "But I'm a guy?!"

He didn't mean for it to sound like a question. Haibara didn't take it as one. "Nine of our last caretakers were men, Kuroba-kun. That's _half_. I think the reason why so many men apply for this job is because the ad makes it sound so dangerous. Kudou-kun was half-joking when he put that ad out, so." She traced the rim of her bowl. "But the point is that I'm sure you've already experienced it. Kudou-kun is very charming, in his own way. It's odd, considering what a dense idiot he really is. But all the same, he's attractive to most people – men, women, and everyone else."

"O-Oh." Kaito blinked furiously. So Shinichi had some kind of strange – seduction ability? Was _that _why Kaito had thought he was so adorable?

Mind working frantically, Kaito turned on the rest of the children. "So the reason why you guys all seem to want to assassinate me is because you think I'm going to try to seduce your dad?"

"I don't really think of Shinichi-oniisan as my _dad_," Ayumi corrected, and from the twin spots of bright pink in her cheeks, Kaito didn't doubt her. Her gaze hardened as she continued to stare at him. "But I still don't want any weirdos to try to do anything to him."

"We all admire Shinichi-san," Mitsuhiko contributed, eyes narrowed. "And we don't want anything bad to happen to him. We don't want him to end up sad in the event of a bad breakup."

"Shinichi-niichan deserves better than that," Genta added.

Kaito stared. "How old are you guys?"

"Six," was the resounding answer, and Kaito rubbed at his face wearily. Just his luck, taking care of four overly mature six-year-olds.

"Okay," he mumbled, raising his face to meet their eyes. "Okay, if I promise that I won't fall in love with Kudou-san and-or try to take advantage of him, will you all stop looking at me as if you'd like to sever my jugular? At least for today?"

Haibara regarded him with detachment. Going back to her cereal, she murmured, "I suppose I can just think about castrating you rather than looking as if I'd like to, so sure."

Shuddering – how did she know the word _castrate_? – Kaito scanned the rest of them. "Your answers?" he prompted, eyebrows raised, and Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, and Genta all gave reluctant sounds of consent.

"Great. Thank you all for your cooperation." Blowing out a breath, Kaito relaxed. Well, this was… progress, wasn't it?

Another glance at the children, all shoveling cereal into their mouths with a certain viciousness Kaito didn't doubt was directed at him, had him thinking twice.

* * *

"Your children are terrifying," was the first thing Kaito told Shinichi when Shinichi walked through the front door.

Shinichi stared blankly, the door shutting behind him with a soft click. Kaito looked attractively rumpled, his threadbare sweatshirt sagging wearily around him and his hair sticking up in a miraculous thirty-four directions. He was propped up beside the coatrack, rubbing his face with one hand as he gazed unwaveringly at Shinichi.

"They are, but they're also perfectly lovely," Shinichi said in response, shucking his shoes and stepping into the magnifying glass-print slippers Haibara and Ayumi had given him for his last birthday. He angled an inquisitive look at Kaito. "I assume they didn't _completely _scare you off, as you're still standing?"

"Standing?"

"As opposed to crumpled into a ball and sobbing, I mean." Shinichi couldn't help but smirk as the color drained from Kaito's face.

"You're joking, right?"

"Well…" Shinichi trailed off. That had only happened twice, but Kaito didn't need to know that. "Yes, definitely. Totally joking."

Swallowing, Kaito took a few steps towards Shinichi. It took Shinichi a few moments to realize that Kaito was trying to reach his shoes, and he hastily stepped out of the way.

"I've already put the kids to bed," Kaito murmured as he carefully placed his slippers aside and stepped into his tattered sneakers. Shinichi fleetingly wondered if he could feel the ground through them, considering how thin the soles had gotten.

Having finished tying his shoes, Kaito straightened and let out a long exhale. He collected the ragged shoulder bag he'd left by the coatrack. "I doubt they're sleeping, though. The kids, I mean." He rolled his eyes, glancing towards the ceiling with something close to exasperation.

Shinichi smiled at him. He already liked this kid – hopefully he'd last longer than a month. "They never are," he remarked dryly. "Thanks for today, Kuroba-kun." Digging around in his back pocket, he extracted the check he'd written while between cases at the police station. "Here you go."

Kaito accepted it gratefully, tucking it into his bag before he met Shinichi's eyes. "Thank you, Kudou-san." A smirk. "Call me."

It took Shinichi's brain a few seconds to realize Kaito meant _call me if you need me to babysit your kids_ and not _call me so we can get go on dates, _the latter of which was what Shinichi had been idly considering ever since Kaito had shown up on his doorstep, and by the time he'd worked it out, Kaito had already slipped away.

Standing in the entry, Shinichi felt momentarily lost before he turned and found that Ayumi, Haibara, Genta, and Mitsuhiko were all standing on the stairs, staring down at him with varying degrees of uncertainty.

Neither the children nor Shinichi dared to break the silence for a long, long moment.

"Do you… do you like him, Shinichi-oniisan?" Ayumi finally asked, voice barely carrying far enough for Shinichi to hear, and Shinichi exhaled slowly. Did he like Kaito? Sure, Kaito certainly seemed like a good man, though Shinichi still hadn't decided how much of the easygoing personality he had presented was a show for a new employer, but from what he'd seen… he wouldn't mind having Kaito around.

Judging from his children's faces, though, they weren't entirely sure yet.

He eventually turned Ayumi's question back on her. "Do you guys like him?"

Nobody moved.

Haibara was the first to break the silence. "He promised not to fall in love with you, so."

The admission startled a gasp of laughter out of Shinichi. "Fall in love with me? What are you talking about?" He searched Genta's face, then Mitsuhiko's, then Ayumi's, then finally Haibara's. "Are you all still going on about your caretakers suddenly being obsessed with me? You know that's not true." _I'd be able to actually have a stable relationship if people were that easily attracted to me_, he thought privately.

"Yes, it is," Mitsuhiko interjected, eyebrows drawing together. There was a tangible edge of desperation in his voice. "Don't you remember Homura-san? And Iwami-san and Takayama-san? They were all…" His voice fractured. "They were planning to… to –"

In a moment, Shinichi was up the stairs, holding Mitsuhiko to his chest. "Shh, shh," he hummed until Mitsuhiko's breath stopped catching and he stopped shivering. He didn't want to even _think _about what had happened to Mitsuhiko's mother, and he could tell Mitsuhiko was comparing their situations, considering how Shinichi was now his only parent.

"That won't happen to me," he assured Mitsuhiko, pulling back to study Mitsuhiko's face. Mitsuhiko's freckled cheeks were pale, but he nodded.

Around them, Ayumi was clutching at Shinichi's shirt, and Genta's hands had clamped tight around his forearm. Haibara didn't deign to touch him, but her arms were folded across her chest. A surge of understanding flooded through Shinichi. They were all so concerned for him, scared of him being hurt or losing him, like their parents had been hurt and like they'd lost their parents.

Shinichi slowly peered around the little circle of faces, and his heart seized a little at the pleading expressions that greeted him. They were all such _good_ kids, kids who hadn't deserved what they'd gone through.

"All of you," he murmured, gently maneuvering so he could weave a hand through Ayumi's hair and press his forehead to Genta's, "all of you are so important to me. I don't know what I'd do without you watching out for me. Thank you for your concern. But I won't let anyone touch me, so please don't worry."

Ayumi promptly burst into tears, pressing her face into his bicep.

As he soothed her, Shinichi offered a smile to the rest of the children. "Well, tonight has been rather fun," he announced, trying to sound less like he was about to break down in front of them. "Can I have your word that you won't try to scare off Kuroba-kun? You already did get him to promise he wouldn't do anything to me." It seemed dating Kaito was out of the question, but Shinichi would do anything and everything for his kids, and not dating Kaito was the least of it.

"Okay," Genta muttered, albeit without a surplus of excitement. Haibara and Mitsuhiko gave equally unenthusiastic affirmations, and Shinichi felt Ayumi nod against his arm.

"Great," Shinichi beamed. "Now let's go to sleep. You all must be tired."

He was met with loud exclamations that no, none of them were _tired_, it was only nine-thirty, didn't he know they were all _six years old_, and he replied that of course he knew, they were practically _ancient_, that's why they must be tired, and the evening ended with comparisons of six-year-olds and Egyptian pyramids.

Later, Shinichi had to take a minute to wonder how he'd gotten lucky enough to have such amazing children. He really didn't know.


	2. Chapter 2

_Posting a bit earlier than usual, but here's part 2~! **Warning** for a mild panic attack._

* * *

The twelfth time Kaito knocked on the door of the Kudou mansion, it was storming madly. Kaito tried to tug the neckline of his sopping wet sweatshirt higher as pellets of rain sliced at his back and the wind tried its hardest to batter him to the ground.

Kaito was just beginning to wonder if he was going to catch hypothermia and die when the door swung open and an extraordinarily dressed Shinichi, looking several kinds of appetizing in his well-tailored black suit and robin's egg blue silk tie, stared at him with alarm.

"You look… wet," he finally managed, and Kaito flinched at the unintended double entendre. For all the promises he had made to the children, it was hard not to at least _appreciate _Shinichi's good looks, and Shinichi didn't make it easy when he said things like that.

"Yes, which is why I'd be thankful –" here, a distant rumble of thunder interrupted him, "– if you, you know, let me in."

A smirk twisted Shinichi's lips, and he stepped aside, holding the door wide to let Kaito in. Kaito hurried in, feeling uncomfortable as he dripped rainwater all over the floors. Even now, after spending a few more days convincing people (read: Genta) that glue was not edible while others (read: Haibara) looked on and laughed maliciously, he still felt like a stranger in the huge mansion. Just yesterday, when he'd been here to watch the kids while Shinichi flitted off to track down a serial killer, he'd discovered an entire wing of the place he hadn't known about. It had been mildly distressing.

"The kids are watching Masked Yaiba at the moment, so they're all quiet. Although that should only last for about twenty more minutes," Shinichi remarked, and Kaito nodded in understanding. He didn't really understand the four children's obsession with the show – well, barring Haibara; she didn't seem to particularly like the show – but it was helpful whenever they got particularly out of hand.

When he finished pulling off his shoes (while simultaneously trying not to leave any miniature lakes in the entry – a feat that was starting to become unreasonably difficult) and straightened awkwardly, Shinichi was eyeing him musingly.

"Did you bring any spare clothes?" he asked, and Kaito raised his eyebrows in a way that meant _does it look like I brought spare clothes?_

With an unruffled smile, Shinichi shrugged. "Well, then. We've got no choice." His gaze raked up and down Kaito – Kaito suppressed a shiver; _this man was going to put him in an early grave _– before he smiled good-naturedly. "You should be about the same size as me, I guess. I can lend you something dry to wear."

"Oh, really? Thanks," Kaito said, without thinking of the implications.

He did, however, once he was standing in Shinichi's closet with Shinichi standing in the doorway. There wasn't anything particularly disturbing or outrageous in Shinichi's wardrobe – there were a lot of button-downs and slacks in muted neutrals with the occasional sweater or t-shirt tossed in – but the problem was that _everything smelled like Shinichi_.

Kaito had noticed it the first time he'd met Shinichi, how the man smelled like pine and citrus, but he'd had no idea that apparently Shinichi's clothes did, too. Just great.

"Just pick whatever you'd like," Shinichi said from behind him, and Kaito sighed, reaching for the closest items (a blue sweater and faded jeans).

He was about to take of his sweatshirt and shirt when he noticed Shinichi was still in the room. Standing approximately two feet behind him. With no visible plans of leaving.

"_Um_," Kaito ground out, clutching at the wet hem of his sweatshirt, "do you mind?"

Shinichi laughed. His suit whispered as he straightened. "Sorry, I just wanted to see your reaction."

"I never charge less than ten thousand yen for my shows," Kaito grumbled, before he could filter himself. He felt rather than heard Shinichi stiffen behind him.

"You." Pause. Kaito felt his face heat. "You do that too?"

"No, it – it was a joke," Kaito stammered. His skin felt as if someone had doused him in gasoline and tossed a lighter at him. "I didn't mean to say that I need to strip for money – well, I mean, I guess I do, kind of –"

He immediately knew that was the wrong thing to say when Shinichi growled, "_What_," in a way that forecasted snowstorms and temperatures below freezing.

"I…" Kaito struggled for words. How had the conversation turned in this direction? "I don't exactly have a lot of money, you know. It – I assumed that was pretty obvious. I…" He took a deep breath. "My father died a long time ago, so I have to help support my mother, and I'm still in college, so…"

There was a short, tense silence, then Shinichi asked, abruptly, "What university do you attend?"

"What?" Caught off guard, Kaito reflexively stuttered, "T-Touto University, but why do you –"

"That's not far from here," Shinichi observed quietly, almost as if he was talking to himself, but Kaito reeled, whirling to stare at him. If Kaito examined his words, it almost sounded as if Shinichi was actually suggesting that Kaito –

"A live-in caretaker would be good," Shinichi stated, sounding serene. There was half a smile playing over his mouth. "The children don't seem to mind you too much, after all. And I certainly wouldn't mind it. And anyway, Touto is within walking distance. Or, if you'd like, I could drive you when I take the children to school."

Kaito had about seventy percent of a refusal formed – _no, I could never do that, your children _tolerate_ me, sure, but they don't adore me the way they adore you, they wouldn't want me to live here, I'd be too much of an imposition, I just can't _– but he interrupted himself with a sneeze that shook the foundations of the mansion.

"I suppose you should get changed before you die of hypothermia. Give the children my regards – I doubt they'll appreciate me interrupting their show." Shinichi smiled over at him as he headed for the door. On his way out, he called, "Next time, bring your things. We can get you set up somewhere around here."

Frozen, both figuratively and (almost) literally, Kaito almost missed the sound of the front door opening and shutting.

Had Shinichi really – did he _seriously _want Kaito to come live at the –?

Shaking himself out of his stupor of _is he serious I don't think I could ever actually do this God why is he so nice and good-looking dammit_, Kaito collected himself long enough to change into Shinichi's clothes. Having Shinichi's scent even closer to his skin certainly wasn't helping the thoughts swimming through his head.

He was transporting his wet clothes to the laundry room when Haibara appeared in the hallway. Her eyes widened at the sight of him. "Is that Kudou-kun's sweater?" she demanded, and Kaito nodded absently.

"I got caught in the rain, so, you know," Kaito explained a little dazedly. He was still feeling a bit shell-shocked from Shinichi's earlier offer. He hit the start button the washing machine. "He lent me some clothes."

"Oh." Haibara blinked, clearly surprised. She hovered in the doorframe uneasily. "He… doesn't usually do that."

"I doubt he has many opportunities to lend his clothes to people who got caught in the rain," Kaito responded vaguely, staring down at the lid of the washing machine as it whirred and trembled. He sighed heavily.

When he finally returned his attention to Haibara, she was regarding him with something close to apprehension. It was the first time he'd seen her display any emotion other than chilled detachment or sadistic amusement, and it was unnerving to see it on her face. Out of all Shinichi's children, Haibara was by far the most mature; she acted more like an eighteen-year-old than a six-year-old.

"What's… wrong?" Kaito managed, and Haibara shook her head as if she was trying to dislodge a particularly disturbing notion.

"It's nothing. Kudou-kun appears to have gotten, ah, attached," she explained softly, her gaze not quite meeting Kaito's, and Kaito scowled. He was about to question what she meant by that when there was the sound of three sets of footsteps pounding towards them, and Mitsuhiko, Genta, and Ayumi all skidded to a stop beside Haibara.

"Kuroba-oniisan, you're here? Does that mean Shinichi-oniisan's gone already?" Ayumi puffed out her bottom lip, petulant, and Kaito rolled his eyes a little fondly, extending a hand to ruffle her hair.

"Wow, Ayumi-chan. Tone down your enthusiasm before you break something," he said sarcastically. Ayumi beamed at him. She had warmed up to him, despite her initial hesitance, though he doubted he ranked anywhere near the godlike level she placed Shinichi at. Then again, he doubted _anyone _ranked near Shinichi in her mind.

"Che. He could've at least said goodbye," Genta grumbled, folding his hands behind his head in what Kaito suspected was an attempt to disguise just how dejected he was.

"You wouldn't have wanted him to interrupt, though," Kaito reminded him, and Genta shrugged.

"Whatever."

Mitsuhiko gave a wistful sigh, shoulders sagging. It was an entirely too old look on someone as young as him, Kaito thought, but didn't comment. "I wonder if he's there yet."

"If he's where?" Kaito wondered as he led the four of them out of the laundry room. The air inside the mansion was beginning to feel refrigerated – a sign that the storm was intensifying outside – and he considered turning up the thermostat. Judging by the way Ayumi was trying not to shiver, he probably needed to.

Genta sighed loudly as he trudged after Kaito. "He's on a date."

"That's nice," Kaito muttered as he adjusted the thermostat.

And then he fully realized what Genta said. His hand spasmed so hard he turned the thermostat up to ninety-two degrees.

Quickly cranking it back down to a reasonable temperature, Kaito choked, "What did you say?" over his shoulder at where the four kids were blinking up at him.

"He's on a date," Genta repeated, severely unimpressed.

"He has a…" Kaito coughed, suddenly feeling as if he was being deep-fried underneath their stares. "A… girlfriend? If he's got a girlfriend, why were you so scared of me trying to steal him away? He's already taken, isn't he?"

They all shared considering looks before turning back to Kaito.

"Technically... Ran-san isn't Shinichi-san's girlfriend," Mitsuhiko informed him. "But they've been friends since they were kids, and he takes her out to fancy restaurants every once in a while. Like tonight." He shrugged uncomfortably. "I think Shinichi-san's and Ran-san's parents all want them to get married eventually."

"But Ran-oneesan is really nice!" Ayumi chipped in. "If Shinichi-oniisan had to marry someone, I would want it to be her!"

"Ran-san really is quite a nice lady," Mitsuhiko agreed, and Genta nodded along. "They make a nice couple."

"O-Oh." Kaito fought back the wave of disappointment swelling in his chest. So this whole time, Shinichi had been taken? Then why had he kept making such suggestive comments and being unnecessarily nice? Just for fun? Just because he was oblivious to how attractive things like that were to someone like Kaito?

Yes, Kaito had known from the first day that he wouldn't be able to actually date Shinichi – the kids didn't want that, and considering how much Shinichi valued their opinions, he doubted Shinichi would want that – but to know Shinichi was actually in a relationship was startling. Kaito couldn't even continue to entertain his ridiculous half-fantasies about Shinichi – it would be fundamentally wrong to think about getting involved with someone who was pretty much engaged. He wasn't the type to do that.

He sagged against the wall, scrubbing at his sinuses with his fingertips. Ayumi's eyebrows drew together in concern.

"Kuroba-oniisan? Are you all right?"

Kaito scrounged up a smile. He hoped it didn't look as forced as it felt, stretched artificially across his face like some kind of latex mask. "I'm fine. Great. Just – tired. I think I might be getting sick, too," he added as an afterthought.

That was enough to erase Ayumi's frown. "Oh, okay. I guess you do look a little sick. Make sure you drink lots of fluids and get some sleep when you go home!"

"Right. Thank you," Kaito managed faintly, wondering how his life had come to taking medical advice from a six-year-old. He pulled himself into a more upright position. "Who wants to help me make curry for dinner?"

"Me!" three voices cried enthusiastically, followed by a small huffing noise Kaito had long since understood was Haibara's version of a yes.

As Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi all went careening for the kitchen, arguing over who got to cook the rice, Haibara mentioned drolly, "I wonder how long it'll be before you meet her."

Starting, Kaito peered back over his shoulder to arch an eyebrow inquisitively at her. "What are you talking about?"

A sliver of a smile crawled across Haibara's face. "Mouri-san. Mouri Ran-san, I mean. If you do end up sticking around, you're bound to meet her eventually."

For a moment, Kaito wasn't entirely sure what to say, and Haibara gave him no clues. The expression on her face was delicately neutral, a few degrees from aloof.

He didn't quite know how interpret that, so he settled for a smile. "I can't wait. I'm sure she's a lovely girl."

Haibara just looked at him as if he'd just suggested he wanted to try swimming through lava before sighing loudly and stalking towards the kitchen.

Kaito shuddered. Sometimes she scared him more than he'd ever admit.

* * *

There were times when Shinichi really hated his best friend.

"So this one's cute, is he?" Ran grinned at him over the rim of her wineglass, wiggling her neatly penciled eyebrows in a way that was more relentless pervert than elegant, high-class twentysomething socialite. (Though both Shinichi and Ran had long since abandoned their socialite obligations, to be honest – Shinichi to be a police officer, Ran to be a novelist-slash-karate champion.)

With a sigh of longsuffering, Shinichi set down his sterling silver steak knife. The live band began a waltz in the background. "Ran, I need you to know that you need to keep out of this. Don't try to meddle. The kids don't want me to date him, so it'll never happen."

Leaning her face on one hand, Ran gave him her best puppy dog eyes. They had never worked before, but she seemed to be giving it a try anyway. "Okay, okay. But you haven't shut up about how great Kuroba-kun is for the last ten minutes, and you _just _said that you invited him to come live with you. That says a lot, Shinichi."

"That he's the only attractive person in my life at the moment, and I'm disgustingly desperate?" Shinichi offered weakly, wanting to groan and clutch at his face but knowing that it would probably disrupt the whole ambient-music-and-lilac-candle atmosphere that La Couronne d'Or was probably going for. People who looked as if they needed lobotomies tended to do that.

"I'm offended. I'm not an attractive person?" Ran huffed teasingly, and Shinichi shook his head at her.

"You don't count." Yes, Ran was undeniably beautiful, from her impeccably styled hair to the distinct blue-purple of her eyes, but she was also _Ran_, the same girl who'd punched him in the face for insulting her father and wiped his eyes when he sobbed over Reichenbach Falls, the same girl he'd split popsicles with on hot August days and coerced into making him obligatory chocolates every Valentine's Day.

In short, she was just _Ran_, his best friend and sister (though he only admitted she was the latter when he was feeling particularly sentimental), and he was part of the majority of people who didn't fall in love with their sisters.

Ran opened her mouth, probably about to make some sly remark that would likely lead Shinichi to either cry or wish for a large, bladed object, but she was interrupted by a loud crash of lightning that had several waiters fumbling their plates. The sound of rain pattering against the roof was beginning to overwhelm the soft strains of Mozart behind them.

Shinichi frowned, concern beginning to boil in his veins. He wondered how bad the storm had gotten back home – if it was anything like it was here, he could only hope the children would be all right. Ayumi in particular – he knew that her parents' murder had happened on a stormy night, and he'd sat up with her through too many storms not to know that she was absolutely terrified of them. Mitsuhiko and Genta and Haibara, they usually tried to be braver about it, but he'd woken to find all them in his bed during a storm before, so – what if –

The thought scalded him.

He stood with a scrape of chair to plush carpeting. Ran was eyeing him with barely disguised worry.

"Are you going to go back to them?" she asked, standing as well.

"I think I need to," Shinichi agreed, mind racing. He was in Ekoda, it would take forty minutes to get back to the mansion, if he speeded, maybe less, but no, he couldn't speed, getting into an accident wouldn't help the children in the least –

Suddenly there was a hand on his wrist and Ran's voice, soothing and warm. "Shinichi. Calm down. They'll be fine. If Kuroba-kun is as amazing as you say, he'll have everything handled."

"But what if –"

"Take a few deep breaths. Breathe. And then go. Driving while you're this tense is going to end up with you flipped over in a ditch." Ran stroked the inside of his wrist with her thumb, gentle and comforting, and Shinichi exhaled.

He shot her a grateful smile, tugging his arm out of her grasp. "Thanks, Ran. You always know what to say."

"Don't I?" She smirked.

As Shinichi headed for the door, she called after him, "Also, Shinichi? If the only thing stopping you from asking out Kuroba-kun is the kids, you might want to talk to them about it. They might not be so adverse to it if you explain that you haven't been this interested in anyone for the last eight years."

Shinichi briefly debated whether he should try to argue with her, but he found he couldn't. It was the truth, after all.

He settled for tossing her a glare as he threw open the front door, ignoring the maître d's surprised, "Leaving so soon, Kudou-sama?" and dashed out into the rain.

* * *

"Ayumi-chan, Ayumi. Ayumi, please come out. Darling, please."

Kaito crouched by the door to Shinichi's closet, trying his hardest not to simply break the door down and drag Ayumi out of there. He doubted that would help, though. Strangling whoever the hell had designed the place with a lock on the _closet door _probably would. And whoever had made it so easy for the electricity to go out.

There was a pitiful whimpering from inside the closet, barely audible over the all too close growl of thunder. "No. No, I don't wanna."

"Please, sweetheart," Kaito tried, laying one hand on the door. He could feel Mitsuhiko, Genta, and Haibara uneasily shuffling around behind him as a particularly bad crack of lightning lit the windows momentarily. "Please, Ayumi, please, could you open the door?"

Quiet sobs, then, "No, no, I can't, I don't wanna, Kuroba-oniisan, I'm scared."

Flinching, Kaito leaned closer. He wasn't trained to do this, dammit. "Please, Ayumi, I need – could you try to unlock the door? You don't have to open it, just unlock it, please, love."

Nothing happened for a second, and then there was the barely perceptible susurration of Ayumi scooting towards the door. A tiny, shaky click – _yes, good, Kaito could do this _– and then Kaito carefully edged the door open.

Ayumi was curled into a ball. She had torn several of Shinichi's shirts off the hangers and was clutching them to her chest, muffling her sobs into them. When she lifted her face, a strike of lightning illuminated the smudged tear tracks smeared across her cheeks. Her eyes were wild, frantic, her skin paler than snow. She looked ghostly and skeletal and terrified out of her mind.

"Oh, Ayumi," Kaito breathed, and he reached out to scoop her up, despite how she recoiled away from him. "Please, darling, it's okay."

It was a few moments before Ayumi's crying had mellowed enough for her to let the shirts slip out of her grasp. Her small hands moved warily towards him, clamping in his sweater, and she pulled back from his chest, gasping, to meet his eyes. Kaito smiled reassuring down at her, running a hand through her hair –

And then a bolt of lightning struck, and Ayumi fairly screamed, burying her face in Kaito's chest. He felt dampness spread throughout the material, soaking all the way to his skin.

What was he supposed to do in this situation? Shinichi hadn't exactly given him instructions to follow in case this happened – he probably hadn't expected the storm to get this bad, otherwise Kaito doubted he would've left – and Kaito had never dealt with anything like this before.

An errant thought occurred to him, and despite the discomfort that rose in his stomach with its arrival, Kaito swallowed and gently pulled Ayumi from his torso. She immediately began to wail, clinging to Shinichi's sweater as if it was a lifeline, and Kaito almost stopped before he steeled himself.

"Hey, hey? Ayumi-chan? Love, look here, please." Kaito murmured encouraging things until she met his eyes, hiccupping as tears continued to roll down her cheeks.

Gathering up his nerve, he hesitantly extended one hand, tried for a smile, and made a rose appear between his fingers.

Ayumi gasped, clearly surprised, and Kaito tucked the rose behind her ear. It was pale pink, and it contrasted sharply and painfully with the pale shininess of her cheeks. It broke Kaito's heart a little to see it.

"Please don't cry anymore, Ayumi-chan," he murmured, swiping the wetness off her cheekbones with his fingers.

"Y-You…" Ayumi's breathing hitched here as she tried to steady herself. For the moment, she had stopped crying outright, though several teardrops still continued a slow descent down her face. "You know m-magic, Kuroba-oniisan?"

Kaito wanted to deny it, firmly pretend his dreams of being a magician never existed, act as if he hadn't spent most of his life so in love with magic he would have done anything to be like his father, fake it all away, but Ayumi was looking at him with so much hope that he couldn't do it.

Smoothing back her hair, Kaito pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Yes, Ayumi-chan. I'm a magician, you see? So I can cast a spell on you so you're not scared anymore." He slid her headband off so he could grasp her face properly. "Is that okay, darling? Do you want that?"

Lightning chose that moment to shriek against the rattling windows, illuminating the room in stark white – Kaito gritted his teeth as he felt Ayumi whimper and the other children cower at his back – but once the light had died down, Ayumi nodded, just a little. Her face was still wet.

Placing his cheek against hers – saltwater stuck to his skin – Kaito began to mutter, just made-up words smattered with bits of reassuring phrases. He would've felt ridiculous, saying absolutely nothing, but he could feel Ayumi's tension bleeding out of her, leaving her weak and shivering against him.

Once her breathing had regulated, Kaito released her, studying her face. Her face was still too shades too light, but her tears had mostly dried and she looked better, less on the verge of collapse.

Giving her one last kiss on the cheek, Kaito pulled the rose out from behind her ear and presented it to her. She took it reverently, eyes never leaving his.

"This," he told her, somber, "is a magic rose. As long as you have it, you'll never be afraid again. Okay?"

Ayumi clutched it to her chest, nodding quickly. "O-Okay. Thank you, Kaito-oniisan."

Eyebrows shooting up his forehead – this was the first time Ayumi had ever called him "Kaito-oniisan" rather than "Kuroba-oniisan" – Kaito almost missed the nervous tap of fingers on his shoulder. He turned to find Mitsuhiko and Genta looking at him with twin expressions of tentative hope, both a little pale around the edges.

"I don't want to trouble you, Kuroba-san," Mitsuhiko began, eyes dropping to examine the floor, "but can we… can we have roses, too?"

"Oh, darling," Kaito sighed, and just as Mitsuhiko's face fell, he reached out both hands and presented them with roses, both a soft yellow. Genta's eyes widened, and he reached out to take one with parted lips and wonder written across his face. Mitsuhiko accepted the other, gratitude present in every line of his face.

Glancing around, Kaito located Haibara. She was standing several feet away, trying her best to look unaffected by the storm and the power outage, but even Kaito, who hadn't known her long, could see through the mask that had settled over her features.

"Haibara-san." Scowling, Haibara turned glazed eyes on him. She jumped visibly as Kaito thrust a white rose in her face, expression crumbling as she blinked down at it.

"I know you're not afraid, of course," Kaito whispered, daring to arrange a stray strand of her blonde hair behind her ear, "but I thought you might still want a rose. Here, love."

There was an odd affection to the look Haibara sent him as she tugged the rose from his fingers, something that made her seem almost vulnerable, much less ice princess and more frightened little girl. "I suppose I can accept this," she sniffed, but Kaito didn't miss the little half-smile she angled at him.

"Kaito-oniisan, can you do any more magic?" Ayumi piped up, and Kaito straightened, a little hesitant. Oh, yes, he could do _so _much more, but he didn't _want _to, and he hadn't, not for so long –

One look at Ayumi's face, salt lingering on her lashes and her eyes so wide and trusting, and then Mitsuhiko and Genta's matching attempts at concealing their enthusiasm, and Kaito found he was nodding in agreement.

"Of course! What kind of magician would I be if I couldn't do any more than that?"

And thus began Kaito's impromptu magic show. He didn't have any more supplies – just the roses, always the roses – but they found substitutes. Shinichi had a surprising number of useful items lying around his room.

Doing magic was like coming up for air after almost drowning. It felt good, it felt right, but at the same time, Kaito wanted to gasp and flail and just stop, because it had either been too long or too short since he'd last done it.

He was juggling Shinichi's bottle of shampoo, his bedside lamp, a framed photo of two people Kaito assumed were Shinichi's parents, and a well-thumbed copy of _The Sign of Four _when there was a bang, some muted swearing, and then footsteps pounded up the stairs. Kaito almost dropped the shampoo when Shinichi banged into the room, looking fantastically gorgeous in his rain-ruined suit with his hair a mess of wet cowlicks.

"Kuroba-kun, where –? Ayumi! Genta! Mitsuhiko! Haiba… oh."

It was almost comical to see him draw up short, blinking wordlessly at the scene in front of him. Kaito didn't doubt they made a rather odd picture, Kaito sitting on the bed juggling Shinichi's various possessions while his cheering children, all holding roses, crowded in a semicircle on the floor in front of him, with the lights out and a storm raging outside.

At that moment, the lights flickered back to life.

"Shinichi-oniisan!" Ayumi momentarily forgot Kaito, rushing across the room to throw her arms around Shinichi's waist. "You're back!"

Quickly peeling her off, Shinichi told her, "I'm soaked, you'll get wet if you hug me. And yes, I came back because of the storm, but…" He shot Kaito a slightly low-lidded look that had Kaito actually dropping the photo. "It seems Kuroba-kun's got everything covered."

Gracefully setting all the objects down on the bedspread, Kaito shrugged, ducking his head. "It was nothing, really –"

"Kaito-san is a really good magician!" Mitsuhiko chirped, bounding over to show Shinichi his rose. "Look at what he gave me!"

Shinichi inspected it, the quarter smile on his face growing as he flicked through the petals. "Kaito-san? When did he become Kaito-san?" he asked, teasingly, and Mitsuhiko rolled his eyes as Kaito flushed a little.

_It's the first time I've heard him say my first name, _he thought, halfway dreamy, then a shock of horror hit him. Hadn't he resolved to stop thinking about Shinichi that way?

Meanwhile, Shinichi was taking care to fawn over Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi's roses, grinning warmly over at Haibara as she pouted at him and tried to pretend she wasn't just as pleased with her rose as the others were.

Eventually, the chatter died down as Shinichi announced, "Okay, guys. We're keeping Kaito-kun here too long. He needs to go home now."

The shock of Shinichi addressing him as "Kaito" was almost enough to supersede the surprise that curled in his stomach at the three loud,_ Nooo, does he have to go_s that filled the room.

Feigning surprise, Shinichi said, "But Kaito-kun has to go home sooner or later, you know."

"It's still early!" Genta protested, and whoa, Kaito almost fell over at that, because while he'd realized how attached Ayumi and Mitsuhiko had gotten in the past couple of hours, he hadn't really thought Genta would ever like him.

"Oh?" Shinichi quirked a brow. He cast a fleeting glance over at Kaito. "You don't want Kaito to leave?" Three identical nods. Haibara's little huffing noise.

Wait a second. Kaito's stomach did a swooping roll. Was it possible that Shinichi going to –

"Wouldn't it be great if he didn't have to?" Shinichi was full-out beaming now, as his children stared at him with bewilderment. He looked strange, still drenched with his hair drying in odd directions, but also rather cute in his excitement. Kaito despised himself for noticing. "What if Kaito-kun came to live with us?"

Dead silence. Kaito felt his heart flip in his chest. Oh no –

"Yeah!" Ayumi smiled, so widely that Kaito couldn't believe she was the same girl who had been having a panic attack in her father's closet only an hour ago. "That's a great idea!"

Mitsuhiko was nodding frantically. "That would be great. He could do magic for us all the time, then!"

Genta shrugged. "I guess it would be okay," he said, which was his equivalent of a yes.

The look on Haibara's face was equal parts amused and sardonic. "Just because you're pining after Kuroba-kun," she murmured under her breath, loudly enough that everyone heard.

Flushing, Shinichi opened his mouth, but not before Ayumi inquired, "What does 'pining' mean?"

"Like the tree?" Genta offered.

"Isn't it more about wanting someone to marry you?" Mitsuhiko shrugged. "What does it mean, Shinichi-sa –"

"Nothing! It means absolutely nothing." Shinichi coughed, pink spreading fast along his neckline. Kaito watched with bemusement as he glanced very obviously at his watch. "Come on, it's time for bed."

Amidst the instant chorus of dissent, Kaito pitched in, helping to move them along with things like, "Come on, sweetheart, it's getting late. You have school tomorrow, don't you?" and "Don't look at me like that, Haibara," and eventually, "Good night, love. I'll see you soon."

Finally after a grueling half-hour of tucking people in (Ayumi) and reading science fiction (Mitsuhiko) and reminders to wash faces (Genta), Shinichi and Kaito ended up back in Shinichi's room, cleaning up the remnants of Kaito's magic show.

As he replaced the photo of his parents on the nightstand, Shinichi commented, frightfully casual, "I didn't know you did magic." His tone was carved in a way that Kaito realized was supposed to allow Kaito to brush it off if he wanted, give him a backdoor to escape if the subject was private.

Kaito straightened, rubbing at his forehead. He appreciated how Shinichi was approaching the issue, but at the same time, he didn't like the feeling that he was being coddled like some breakable porcelain doll.

"I think I mentioned that my father died," he began, clipped, and Shinichi hummed. "My father was a magician."

"Kuroba Toichi?"

"Huh?" When Kaito turned to gaze at Shinichi questioningly, Shinichi just smiled and tugged a corner of his sheets straight.

"My parents were huge fans. So was I, actually. I didn't know he had a son. I mean, I did notice your last names were the same, but…"

"Right." Kaito's stomach felt hollow. He set _The Sign of Four _back on the nightstand. "Well, anyway. I really admired him. I wanted to be a magician because of him. I studied and trained and designed tricks every chance I had." He took a deep breath. "And when he died, I… didn't know how to react. I haven't done magic since."

He could almost see Shinichi's brain working, calculating. Kuroba Toichi had died six years ago. Kaito hadn't done magic for six years.

Sucking in a breath, Kaito waited for it. The "I'm so sorry for your loss," or maybe the "That's so sad." Worse even, the "I understand what you've been through." He hated that one the most, because it was always a lie.

But Shinichi was apparently a man of surprises – earlier, he'd shocked Kaito with his offer of living together, and he shocked Kaito now with his quiet, "I don't think that's what he'd want. You quitting magic because of him, I mean."

Appalled, Kaito whirled on him, intending to glare at him, because _what did Shinichi know about Kaito's father, what could he _possibly_ assume? _But the soft light in Shinichi's eyes stopped him, just barely.

"Don't take this the wrong way," Shinichi told him, composed, "but I don't think your father would want you to stop doing something you clearly love. If he was anything like the man the public knew, he'd never want anything – or anyone – to come between you and your passion." He picked up the shampoo bottle and cast Kaito one last piercing look. "And don't tell me that magic isn't your passion. Why else would you carry around a stash of multicolored roses when you haven't done magic for six years?"

He left Kaito standing in his bedroom feeling absolutely lost.

And also absolutely in love with him.

Kaito just couldn't catch a break.


	3. Chapter 3

_Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!_

* * *

Shinichi was finding that having Kaito living at the mansion was by far the most tempting thing he could've ever suggested.

It was one thing to be able to eat edible home-cooked food for once. It was one thing to be able to step out of the house without fearing that there wouldn't be a house to come home to. It was one thing to learn that Kaito was a twenty-three-year-old (only two years younger than Shinichi) university student majoring in physics and minoring in business who liked chocolate ice cream more than Shinichi had previously believed to be humanly possible.

It was another thing to constantly be bombarded with the way Kaito tucked his messy, slightly overgrown hair behind his ears. It was another thing to not be able to stop staring whenever Kaito addressed Ayumi or the boys with "love" or "sweetheart" or "darling" (Shinichi had no idea when the pet names had become a thing, but he wasn't particularly opposed to it, although there was a part of him that wished they were directed towards him). It was another thing to run into Kaito in the bathroom between baths and see that wow, for a starving college kid, Kaito was in possession of a very nice body.

He'd promised the kids, though. He'd promised he wouldn't get involved with Kaito. That had been long since established. But all the same, it was getting harder and harder not to wish he hadn't made that promise.

Unsurprisingly, Haibara had long since picked up on how revoltingly besotted Shinichi was, if the suggestive smiles she kept sending in his direction were any indication. Shinichi felt rather disturbingly like a very clear window whenever she slanted a knowing smirk at him.

Aside from the achy longing Shinichi shoved to the back of his mind, though, the days were peaceful, halcyon. Shinichi liked driving Kaito to Touto after dropping off the children, because they had a little time to just talk, the two of them. And he liked spending time with both his children and Kaito, sitting around the dinner table together every time. He especially liked the magic shows Kaito had started to perform every Friday night, presenting tricks that even Shinichi couldn't figure out fully.

And then, just as soon as they'd settled into some semblance of a normal routine, everything went to shit.

"I'm really sorry about this, Shinichi," Ran apologized for possibly the eighteenth time in as many minutes, setting her teacup down on the saucer in front of her. She tossed a bit of her hair over one shoulder.

Rubbing his eyes, Shinichi shook his head. "Don't worry, I understand. It's not your fault that the pipes exploded." Privately, he remembered that he'd cautioned Ran against moving into that rickety apartment complex – he'd spotted the water damage creeping up her walls the moment he'd set foot in the place – but telling Ran "I told you so" was pretty much signing your own death warrant, so he held off.

As Ran opened her mouth, probably about to apologize yet again, Shinichi reached out to pick up her hand in a (probably futile) attempt to head her off. Ran was best shut up with sentimentality, after all.

Just as he began to speak, there was a light tap on the door to the library and Kaito poked his head in. "Hey, Kudou-san, I heard the door open, what's…"

He trailed off, though, upon spotting Ran. His eyes widened visibly, and for a split-second Shinichi felt pure panic (_was it love at first sight shit what would he do if it was_), but then Kaito's expression shuttered and he took a few steps into the library.

"You must be Mouri Ran," he greeted, bowing slightly. His hair fell across his forehead, obscuring his face.

"And you must be Kuroba Kaito," Ran purred in response. From the dangerous glint in her eyes, she was sizing him up. A smirk Shinichi knew all too well grew on her lips, one that meant she was seeing something she liked, and Shinichi immediately swatted at her. "Stop, Ran. Don't even think about it." _He's mine_, he tried to communicate with glares. Which was and always would be a lie, of course, and Ran knew it, but. Not the point.

Ran's smirk seemed to call him out on that (_I don't see your name on him, Shinichi, are you sure he's yours?_), but she did tip her head back and relax against the sofa.

Kaito, who had straightened, stiffened noticeably at that. "Am I interrupting? I'm sorry," he mumbled uncomfortably.

"No, no, not at all," Ran assured him, sliding out of her armchair to drape herself across Shinichi's. Inwardly, Shinichi scowled with confusion – what was she _doing_? – but didn't comment. Messing with Ran, especially a Ran who would be staying at his house for a few days, ended in "accidental" fires and three a.m. calls to the police department. He spoke from personal experience.

"So," Ran said cheerfully, and _Good Lord_, was she running a hand through his hair? Shinichi felt mildly nauseous. He decided he was going to give Ran a pamphlet on personal space once this whole thing was over. "Tell me about yourself, Kuroba-kun. I mean," insert bubbly airhead laugh that had Shinichi craning to gawk at her, "I've heard so much about you from Shinichi, but I'd like to hear it all from you."

The expression on Kaito's face was hard to define. If Shinichi had to choose an adjective, he might have chosen frosty or standoffish or maybe Haibara-esque. "I'm a third year at Touto University," he informed her in a tone that was substantially frigid. Shinichi frowned a little. Kaito was usually much warmer, despite his weird sense of humor at times.

"Oh? What are you majoring in?" Now Ran was pawing at Shinichi's face, running her fingers over his jawline. If she hadn't been his best friend and beyond belts in several kinds of martial arts, he might've been tempted to try to bite her hand. As it was, he was a little concerned she had gone completely insane, which called for a psychiatrist rather than violence.

"Physics. And I'm minoring in business."

"How _nice_," Ran simpered – oh God, she actually _simpered_. Mouri Ran had never _simpered _in her entire life. Shinichi was seriously considering the psychiatrist thing.

"Right." Kaito's face had long bypassed cold. He was an ice statue. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go see to the children."

Shinichi blinked – weren't they watching Masked Yaiba right now? – but Kaito had turned on his heel and stomped out of the room before he could even unglue his lips and open his mouth.

Staring after him, Shinichi rounded on Ran. "What the hell was that all about?" He rubbed at his face, feeling mildly dirty.

Ran grinned at him, hopping elegantly off her perch. "That, my _dear _Shinichi, was me making your precious Kuroba-kun jealous. I have to admit, you picked an adorable one."

"What?" Shinichi grimaced, scrubbing at his face harder. "God, I need hand sanitizer. Or a shower."

Smacking him calmly on the head and ignoring his shriek of pain, Ran serenely continued, "You're completely blind if you haven't realized just how much Kuroba-kun likes you."

"Last time I checked, Ran, you were single, which doesn't exactly give me the confidence to believe that you're a reliable source on relationship advice."

This earned him another slap, harder. Shinichi dazedly wondered how many brain cells he'd lost.

"Seriously, Shinichi," Ran told him, and she was serious, now, as she eyed him with concern. "I know you love the kids – don't get me wrong, I do, too – but if their opinion is the only thing stopping you from pursuing a relationship with Kuroba-kun, who's clearly in love with you and whom you're desperately enamored of, that's wrong. They adore him enough to let him live here, don't they? You might as well be married."

Shinichi looked at her askance. "Ran, you don't understand. These kids – their parents have gone through so much. They'd had to see and know things that they shouldn't ever have to. I don't want to do anything that would make them uncomfortable."

Ran shook her head. Her earrings tapped her cheeks. "You're just afraid, Shinichi. You're scared that he doesn't actually care about you as much as you care about him, because you're neck-deep in love with him and you don't think there's any way he's just as shipwrecked as you are. You keep trying to rationalize it, thinking that since you two have only known each other for, like, half a year, it's impossible for him to reciprocate your feelings. And you're using the children as an excuse to hide behind."

Not entirely sure what to say to that – arguing with the truth was like trying to light a match underwater – Shinichi just groaned. "Why are you so damn observant? You should've gone into detective work."

"I'm just good at understanding you," Ran shrugged, her tone impossibly fond before it grew a razorblade edge. "But hey, want to have some fun while I'm here?"

Cracking open an eye, Shinichi stared at her. "What?"

"Since you're so convinced Kuroba-kun doesn't love you," she grinned, and there was a sparkle to her eye that promised death and destruction, "why don't we test him?"

"…What?"

Ran rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips. "We're going to make him _jealous_, you imbecile," she said, wickedly, and Shinichi got a sinking feeling in his stomach.

* * *

Kaito didn't know why, but he was unreasonably irritable.

In the kitchen, Ran was humming as she swept about, preparing yakisoba for dinner. She had knoted her hair back into a complicated braided bun, and even with the sleeves of her cashmere sweater rolled up, she fairly radiated grace.

She had been hanging around the mansion for nearly two days, now, and Kaito was near storming out of the place. Not because Ran was a horrible person, or anything – on the contrary, she was sweet, if not a little saccharine at times, never saying so much as a harsh word to Kaito. And she was a work of art, with her fine features and silk hair and morning dew smile.

What Kaito couldn't stand about her was the casual way she touched Shinichi, nonchalantly carding through his hair with her dainty fingers or patting his chest whenever he made one of his snarky comments or clinging to his side when Kaito gave his weekly magic shows. She touched him thoughtlessly, as if flaunting the privilege. As if she knew she had something painfully unattainable.

"Kaito-oniisan?"

Blinking, Kaito tore his gaze away from Ran's cheerful cooking about to meet Ayumi's frown. He set down the deck of cards he had been holding. "Yes, love?"

Mouth twisting, Ayumi began, "Well… you don't seem to like Ran-oneesan very much, you know." She was staring at him with something not entirely dissimilar to trepidation. "And…" She glanced over at Haibara, who was sitting in a chair in the corner, flipping through some book on neuroscience she'd found in the library. "Haibara-san said it was because you were jealous of her. Because she's so close to Shinichi-oniisan."

Glaring at Haibara and immediately noticing the little upwards curl of her lips as she smirked, Kaito growled, "I'm not jealous. I already know you don't want me to think about Kudou-san that way, so I won't. I mean, I don't."

Ayumi regarded him carefully, her eyebrows drawing together. She opened her mouth, about to say something, paused, then stammered, uncharacteristically uneasy, "A-Actually, Kaito-oniisan, we… we being Genta-kun and Mitsuhiko-kun and I, I mean… we think that maybe… maybe you should…" She inhaled, gaze searching his face. "If you like Shinichi-oniisan, we think you should… you know… go for it."

For a moment, Kaito just stared, openmouthed, and then he grinned at her. "Are you telling me I've got your blessing, Ayumi-chan?"

Blushing a little, Ayumi gave a demure shrug. "I guess. But we all really like you, Kaito-oniisan, and I love Shinichi-oniisan, so I just want both of you to be happy. And Shinichi-oniisan seems to like you a lot." She wrinkled her nose contemplatively. "I think he likes you more than he likes Ran-oneesan."

"Does he, now?" Kaito asked, fondly.

He wasn't expecting Ayumi to break into a series of rapid nods. "He does! Whenever you're not looking at him, he's always looking at you! I think you make him really happy, Kaito-oniisan."

"Oh?" Kaito felt a disturbing flush crawling up his neck at the thought, his mouth curving without his consent. "Do you really think that?" He sounded nonsensically faint, even to his own ears. Ayumi just giggled and nodded. In the corner, Kaito caught a glimpse of Haibara smiling to herself.

It was hard to remember Ayumi's claim after dinner, when Ran threw herself across Shinichi's lap as they sat down to watch Kaito's weekly magic show. Especially when Shinichi kept shaking his head at her with enough fond exasperation to drown several continents.

Swallowing down the strange cocktail of annoyance (at Ran) and longing (for Shinichi) and hope (from Ayumi) that had gathered at the back of his throat, Kaito smiled widely. "Welcome to my show," he announced, to Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi's simultaneous cheers. On the couch, Ran fit herself against Shinichi's torso like a piece of a puzzle.

* * *

After the show, during which Kaito tried not to wince every time Ran leaned a little too close to Shinichi, Kaito helped Shinichi and Ran bundle the children off to bed. It wasn't easy – Genta had apparently eaten three bowls of ice cream without anyone noticing, and Mitsuhiko was frantically trying to figure out Kaito's last levitation trick – but between the three of them, they managed to get the lights turned out by nine forty.

Kaito exited the boys' room, closing the door on his fervently promises to Mitsuhiko that he'd tell him how the trick worked in the morning, when he turned to find Ran striding towards him. Evidently, she had just finished tucking in Ayumi and Haibara. Shinichi was nowhere to be seen – he had gone to clean up the kitchen after he had convinced Mitsuhiko into pajamas.

Setting his jaw, Kaito smiled as genially as he could at Ran as she approached. "They're quite a handful, aren't they, Mouri-san?" He tried his absolute hardest not to attempt to telepathically convince her that they were too much work and she should get out while she still could (by which he meant he frantically tried to brainwash her. No one ever said Kaito wasn't childish).

Unfortunately, Kaito had never quite mastered the art of hypnosis, and Ran laughed musically as she drew to a stop in front of him. "They're really such sweethearts, you know. All of them."

"Right." Kaito looked away.

A heavy silence descended, during which Kaito uncomfortably shuffled a bit and Ran smiled at him blandly.

"You know," Ran said pensively, causing Kaito to look up at her with eyebrows raised, "you're in love with Shinichi, don't you?"

Something froze in Kaito's chest. "What?"

Brushing a bit of hair behind her ears, Ran leveled him with a slight smile. "Am I wrong?"

"I don't see how it's any of your business," Kaito returned carefully. He tried to keep his features in a neutral expression.

Shrugging her cashmere-clad shoulders gracefully, Ran tilted her head appraisingly at him. There was a slant to her mouth that Kaito didn't know how to read. "I think we both know it really is."

"How so? What I feel for Kudou-san –" _dammit he accidentally affirmed that he felt something for Shinichi, _"– is between him and me. You're not a part of it."

Ran's eyes narrowed to slits of purple-blue. Her mouth softened into a line. "Wow," she muttered under her breath, quietly enough that Kaito had to strain to catch it. "He picked a possessive one."

Gritting his teeth to keep from fuming, Kaito ground out, as politely as he could manage, "Is this conversation over? I think it's over. Good night, Mouri-san." He was about to spin on his heel and head for his room to throw himself angrily at his Masked Yaiba bedspread (apparently Haibara had rejected her set of sheets from the four-pack Shinichi had bought, and it was the only spare set in the house), but Ran's voice cut in, stopping him in his tracks.

"Just a little warning, Kuroba-kun," Ran called, and though her voice was airy and calm, there was an underlying thread of steel. "I don't have faith in your ability to make Shinichi happy."

Jaw tightening, Kaito whirled, ready to demand to know what the hell _that _was supposed to mean, but Ran was already disappearing around a far corner, her footsteps rustling against the plush carpeting.

Speechless, Kaito was left incensed in the middle of the hallway, glaring at blank walls and fluffy carpet. He felt utterly ridiculous – everything about this situation (being confronted by the subject of his unrequited love's almost-fiancée) screamed bad daytime drama – but it didn't do anything to make him feel any less peeved at Ran and her stupid patronizing attitude. Was being in love with an attractive twenty-five-year-old former socialiate-turned-police-detective with four adopted children supposed to be this hard?

…Okay, bad wording. But.

At that moment, when Kaito was sincerely considering having a good, long nervous breakdown, Shinichi padded up behind him and dropped an offhand, "Hey."

Thirty seconds later, after Kaito had finished having his mini panic attack, he found Shinichi staring at him with worry. "Sorry about that, but… Kaito-kun, are you all right? You look…" He paused, probably trying to select the least offensive adjective.

"Pissed off?" Kaito offered sardonically.

Shinichi shrugged. "I was going to say 'like a cat that was just thrown into a pool,' but I suppose 'pissed off' works."

With a sigh, Kaito pinched the bridge of his nose. He didn't look directly at Shinichi. "It's nothing. Your fiancée confronted me about – some things."

When Shinichi didn't say anything, Kaito hazarded a look at him. He was startled to find that Shinichi's jaw was hanging open.

"My." Cough. "Fiancée." This was said with a lot of blinking, swallowing, and strangled sounds. Kaito found it more endearing that he probably should have, considering that Shinichi was acting rather like a fish out of water.

Once Shinichi looked as if he had regurgitated his tongue and restored it to its proper place, Kaito slanted his head at him questioningly. "I mean Mouri-san. Your fiancée."

Making a strained, dying-cat sound, Shinichi cleared his throat. "Oh. God, no. Ran is not – okay, no. _Wow_." He was wearing an expression that reminded Kaito of someone who was going through cardiac arrest. Shinichi exhaled harshly. "Ran is not – never has been, never will – my fiancée."

"Girlfriend?" Kaito ventured. He didn't know if he should feel relieved or concerned as Shinichi shook his head frantically.

"Try 'manipulative brat.'" Shinichi sighed. "Or 'that one girl I had the misfortune of knowing as a kid, and as a result is my best friend.'" A wry smile tugged at one corner of his mouth. "I don't think I'd ever be able to think of her as anything other than an older sister."

"Maybe you should tell her that," Kaito advised sulkily. He shifted awkwardly from foot to foot as Shinichi's azure eyes instantly snapped to his face.

"What are you trying to say?"

"Nothing, she just…" Trailing off as he watched Shinichi's expression turn cloudy, Kaito rubbed at the back of his neck. In front of Shinichi, the little argument – if their exchange could even be called that – that he'd had with Ran seemed trivial and stupid. Especially since Shinichi had just told him that there was nothing romantic between them. "She just said some… harsh things that I wasn't expecting. It's nothing serious. It's not as if I'd… I don't know, pack up and leave over what she said."

Shinichi exhaled slowly, obscenely pink lips relaxing into a slight smile. "Good, that's… good." He angled a probably-not-supposed-to-be-seductive-but-really-really-seductive glance at Kaito through his eyelashes. His voice was soft and a little unsteady as he said, "I don't know what I'd do if you left, to be honest." And then he flushed a little, grinned, and walked past Kaito, brushing his shoulder against Kaito's.

For the second time in one evening, Kaito was left stunned in the middle of the hallway.

This time, though, he couldn't stop smiling.

* * *

Kaito probably shouldn't have been surprised when Valentine's Day rolled around a week later and Ayumi instantly demanded that he teach her how to make chocolates. He complied, but only because anyone who tried to function under Ayumi's puppy eyes for over three minutes spontaneously combusted, and Kaito was almost done with his thesis, so spontaneous combustion wouldn't be particularly helpful.

Haibara consented to join them in the kitchen. She kept several magazines on hand, though, most likely to pretend she didn't find Kaito and Ayumi's conversation interesting. Mitsuhiko and Genta, of course, made a grand production of pretending to be completely disinterested in whom Ayumi wanted to give chocolates to. Kaito wasn't all too sure whether it was because they both had crushes on her or because they had fierce protective instincts.

Shinichi had been clearly amused at their antics before he had left for work. He had ruffled Ayumi's hair, smirked at Haibara, and patted his sons on the head before smiling softly at Kaito.

"See you later," he had said, almost shy, and if Kaito hadn't already been a mess of longing for him, that smile probably would've done him in.

After the incident in the hall, Ran had returned to her apartment – apparently they'd gotten the water pipes fixed – and life had returned to normal

Well, normal with the addition of little smiles Shinichi kept angling at him and the brush of Shinichi's fingers against Kaito's shoulder whenever he passed and the quiet way he said _Kaito-kun_. Had Kaito never noticed those scattered bits of affection before? He doubted it.

The sound of a falling spoon startled from Kaito from his reverie. He scowled over at Haibara as she innocently bent to pick it up.

"That was on purpose, wasn't it."

"I don't know," she sang. She was probably the worst sadist Kaito had ever known.

As Kaito turned back to his almost-finished chocolate heart and debated what frosting color to use for the scalloped border, Ayumi asked glibly, "So, is that for Shinichi-oniisan?"

Kaito nearly overturned the table as he jumped. Several spoons clattered to the floor. Haibara beamed, but Kaito was too busy blinking at Ayumi to glare at her. "What? For Kudou-san?" he stammered, fairly certain he had gone cerise.

Ayumi lifted an eyebrow at him as if he was the insane one. "Of course. Who else?" She narrowed her eyes, suddenly all suspicion. "Wait, don't tell me, you've been playing with his heart this whole time?"

"No! No," Kaito hurried to assure him in an attempt to head off the lecture that was sure to come if he didn't. His periphery, Kaito could see that Haibara was watching them over the top of her magazine. He flinched under her scrutiny. "Well, I don't know. Do you think he'd want this from me?"

He was met with enthusiastic nodding from Ayumi and an enigmatic smile from Haibara.

_Well_, Kaito thought, and reached for a tube of frosting. _What the hell_.

* * *

Shinichi had just parked his car and was walking up the driveway when the front door open and his children poured out onto the path, giggling and laughing loudly. Kaito's voice called after them; there was a responding sound from the four kids before the door shut.

"Oh? And where are _you_ going?" Shinichi asked once they had reached the foot of the path. He raised his eyebrows down at them, then cast a pointed glance at the bag Ayumi was clutching. "And with such nice-looking chocolate, too."

Giggling, Ayumi reached into the bag and pulled out a cellophane-wrapped chocolate heart, edges a little lopsided and frosting a little smeared. It was clearly her handiwork. "This is for you, Shinichi-oniisan!"

Gasping, Shinichi gingerly took the package from her, cradling it in his palms to inspect the writing on it. It read _Shinichi-oniisan_ in shaky kanji, painstakingly written, and he smiled down at it. The effort was plainly visible. "This is the prettiest chocolate I've ever seen." He swooped down to place a kiss on Ayumi's cheek. "Thank you, Ayumi."

"We're going to Poirot," Genta announced from behind Mitsuhiko, once Ayumi had stopped blushing. "Azusa-neechan said she had chocolates for us. And then we're going to stay at Professor Agasa's house."

Protectiveness immediately surfaced in Shinichi's mind. "Should I go with you?" he offered, already tucking his house keys into his pocket, but Haibara waved him off.

"We're certainly capable," she scoffed at him, and Shinichi's mouth opened, intent on bringing up the last time he'd let them loose without adult supervision (he was lucky the police officers around here knew and respected him, otherwise he would've had to discover how to pay bail for six-year-olds), but Haibara just rolled her eyes.

"Go inside, we'll be fine. I promise I won't let them light firecrackers this time," she promised, and while it wasn't the most reassuring thing she could've said (dynamite and C4 were still options?), Shinichi relented.

He took turns hugging each of them, although he hesitated when it was Haibara's turn. (Hugging Haibara was like trying to hug a refrigerator.) Once he was done, Shinichi took a step back to beam at them. "Stay safe. Don't hesitate to call me if someone dies or you see someone getting kidnapped. Under no circumstances are you to follow the kidnappers, am I clear?" He shot them all a stern look.

"That was only one time," Mitsuhiko grumbled, but he nodded along with the rest of them, and soon all four were strolling down the sidewalk outside the mansion's gates.

Sighing, Shinichi turned and headed for the front door. After he discarded his coat and shoes in the entry, he wandered into the kitchen to find Kaito sitting at the kitchen table, halfway through a cup of earl gray tea.

Kaito looked up at his entrance. His eyes crinkled with a smile upon seeing him. "Welcome home."

Shinichi felt a familiar, uncomfortable warmth filling his chest as he set Ayumi's chocolate on the counter. He felt like a preteen girl with a crush every time he looked at Kaito, and he couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Probably a bad thing, but it was impossible to hate anything related to Kaito, so.

"How was your day?" he asked, tapping his fingers lightly against the countertop.

Downing the last of his tea, Kaito gave a shrug. "It was fine, I suppose. We finished making the chocolates an hour or so ago."

As he spoke, Shinichi headed for the refrigerator, intent on finding something to drink. Pulling the door open, he scanned the fridge's contents. There was some leftover rice and a carton of milk, and on the center rack, there was –

Behind him, Shinichi felt Kaito froze as Shinichi stared blankly at the large chocolate sitting casually on a plate. It was neatly shaped, a perfect heart, and white frosting formed a curly border around the edges. There were a few more frosting adornments done in varying shades of pink – a surprisingly intricate rose coiled around the bottom V of the heart, and a bow covered the upper left curve of the heart – but what Shinichi couldn't tear his eyes away from was the large _For Shinichi _written in script across the center. And in smaller lettering, _From Kaito_ underneath that.

Heartbeat thudding in his ears, Shinichi turned to find Kaito standing by the kitchen table, wearing a stricken expression. "Shit, I wasn't – I didn't think –" he stammered, flushing, when Shinichi's gaze landed on him.

Ignoring Kaito's spluttering, Shinichi carefully picked up the chocolate to look at it closely. Even up close, he was impressed by Kaito's artistry. There were barely any irregularities in the border or the writing.

"Is this a love confession?" he asked, trying not to sound as if his heart was crawling up his throat. Which it was.

For a moment, Kaito struggled for words. He tugged at the sleeves of his threadbare sweater, delicate mouth opening and closing and long, dark eyelashes quivering over indigo irises, and then he seemed to steel himself as he locked eyes with Shinichi. He had beautiful eyes, Shinichi absently noted for not the first time, not even the eighth, though possibly the six hundredth.

"If it is?" he responded, and Shinichi arched an eyebrow at him.

"That's not an answer."

"I can't – you're so –" Kaito pressed his hands to his face. Shinichi could still see the pink of his cheeks through the gaps in his fingers. "Okay, fine. Yes. It's a love confession. What are you going to do about it?"

Considering, Shinichi stared down at the chocolate, apologized to it beforehand, and then took a bite out of the side.

Unsurprisingly, it was good (Kaito had made it, after all). The chocolate was smooth and sweet, although the frosting was a little sticky, and Shinichi thoroughly enjoyed it. He thoroughly enjoyed the adorable wide-eyed look on Kaito's face as well – Kaito wore surprise like a three-piece suit.

"It's good," Shinichi remarked, once he had swallowed. He grinned as Kaito's eyes widened even further – there was some satisfaction in knowing he could get this kind of reaction out of Kaito. Casting a musing look down at the chocolate, now with one corner bitten off, Shinichi sighed sadly. "I doubt I'll make anything half this good when White Day comes."

He had barely looked up from the chocolate when Kaito's hands were on his face, warm and gentle as they turned his face towards Kaito's. Shinichi inhaled once more, and then Kaito was kissing him, in the middle of the kitchen with fluorescent lights glaring down on their heads, tasting of bergamot and chocolate, and it was just perfect enough to leave Shinichi breathless when Kaito pulled back.

Kaito's expression was heartrendingly adoring as he stared at Shinichi. "You don't know how long I've wanted to do that," he murmured, voice a little raspy, and Shinichi couldn't help but give him a shit-eating grin.

"Not long as I have," he sing-songed, and Kaito sighed dramatically.

"Thank you for ruining a perfectly romantic moment."

"You're welcome." Still, Shinichi drew a little closer to him, hands sliding down to clasp his hips. He dropped his head on Kaito's shoulder, humming tunelessly. Judging from the way Kaito winced, Shinichi's humming was on par with his singing, but Kaito didn't comment. Aloud, at least.

Instead, he murmured hesitantly, "The kids said they wouldn't mind us being together. If you… you know. You're... you'd consider that."

"And so did Ran," Shinichi said into his neck, pressing a kiss to his pulse point. He drew back to smirk at Kaito. "We've got all the important blessings, so I think we're free to get married, now. My mom's always wanted to plan a June wedding."

He worried that he had gone too far when Kaito's eyebrows disappeared behind his bangs, but all Kaito told him was, "I want to graduate first," and Shinichi's heart swelled. He clutched at the waistband of Kaito's jeans, burrowing into his neck.

"Hey," Kaito muttered, and Shinichi felt the word rattle through his chest underneath his ear. He lifted his face, about to ask what was wrong, but Kaito kissed him again, and he forgot all about that in favor of exploring every corner of Kaito's mouth.

"Happy Valentine's Day," Shinichi breathed against Kaito's lips once he had constructed a fairly accurate map of the roof of Kaito's mouth, and Kaito grinned back at him, despite how his cheeks had flushed a deep pink.

"Happy Valentine's Day," he replied softly, urging Shinichi back toward him with a push of his fingers to the nape of Shinichi's neck, and Shinichi went willingly.

So this was love.

* * *

When the children came back the next morning to find Kaito wearing one of Shinichi's shirts and Shinichi with very visible marks along his collarbones, Haibara had the audacity to ask if they should start calling Kaito "Mom" now. Shinichi glared, Kaito flushed, and Ayumi, Genta, and Mitsuhiko blinked in confusion.

* * *

**SO. I hope that was - cute, I guess. Despite how weird the pacing was.**

**Well, I've got to go now. Please consider leaving me a review if you found this fic even a little entertaining! Hope you're all having a fabulous Valentine's Day, and I'll see you soon! - Luna**


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